Brain

I've got a lovely day laid out in front of me, with no distractions or other work to do, just to focus on my reading and writing!

But first I want to share with you the fascinating stuff I saw on TV yesterday. I was watching this show on Discovery Channel, called The Human Body: Pushing the Limits. It was an episode on the brain. Now I know why I wake up with my scalp quite drenched with sweat when I wake up from a nap (usually I collapse right on my work desk). I mean, when you think about it, the room is airconditioned. I obviously didn't do anything strenuous. I pondered about this question before and was thinking along the lines of hibernation - but then I discovered hibernation actually lowers your body temperature (thus containing it) instead of increasing it.

So why do I generate so much heat when I sleep? Apparently, according to Discovery Channel, when you sleep your brain works twice as hard. While the rest of your body is paralyzed, your brain works on maintaining various parts of the body, diagnosing and fixing problems. And when the brain works hard, it generates heat, like a computer. It is very important for the brain to keep itself cooled, because about 50 minutes of brain overheat will kill you. So it uses blood as cooling agent (like in a car engine) and you perspire, the evaporation of sweat cools you down.

So if you go without sleep for a few days, the brain tries to shut you down, so that it can do its maintenance job. The part of your brain that processes logic is shut down, so you experience hallucinations. One Swiss girl who was CSing at my place apparently had that. She suffered so badly from jetlag while travelling from Switzerland to Australia, that she couldn't sleep for five days straight. She described the experience as totally horrible, as she was crying and talking to different parts of her body. When she finally could sleep she was knocked out for several hours.

When you have dreams, some say that it is the brain doing its filing, keeping information that's important and deleting stuff that are not. Apparently it is the most effective to study before sleeping (so that the filing gets done right after) instead of cramming the whole night through. Also the logic part of the brain is shut down so you experience totally crazy stuff while dreaming. There's this eye mask thing that you can wear, that senses your rapid eye movement, when you are dreaming most vividly. Then it shines a light that penetrates your eyelids, so that you can see it while you are dreaming, and that's a sign that you're in a dream state - and when you realize that you are dreaming, you can then control it! Also known as lucid dreams.

Many people attempt to fly when they have lucid dreams. Silver walks around his dreams telling people that they are only figments of his imagination. He also looks for his dream guide, someone wise that he can chat with in his dream. I usually don't do anything much when I realize that I am in a dream. I shrug, and proceed with my dream. If it's a bad one I will just tell myself that none of this is going to matter because I am going to wake up soon. When I last talked to Silver I did have a lucid dream that very night. Feeling that I should probably do something, I looked at the sign board beside me, peeled off the letters and arranged them differently. I am such an unambitious lucid dreamer.

Anyway. Right after the programme when I was going to turn off the TV I was again hooked by what came next, i.e. Human Cloning. Another hour of being breathlessly glued to the TV. Human cloning is probably inevitable. It has not been successful yet (I don't know when the documentary was filmed, the last date mentioned was around 2005 I think), but the technology is there. I am disturbed yet very fascinated.

OK I need to work now. Good week ahead, y'all!